James Ball
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Articles by James Ball
The extraordinary Kushner claims deepening the stench around Trump’s White House
The President's son-in-law has furiously denied stunning allegations around his business dealings in the Middle East as 'outrageous' and 'completely insane'
The extraordinary Kushner claims deepening the stench around Trump's White House
The story involves a Russian double agent, the British and Dutch intelligence agencies, an American investigative journalist, Middle Eastern royal families and the son-in-law of the President of the United States. That's a cast of characters that could easily pack out a John Le Carré novel, or the latest movie in the Bourne franchise.
The extraordinary Kushner claims deepening the stench around Trump's White House
The story involves a Russian double agent, the British and Dutch intelligence agencies, an American investigative journalist, Middle Eastern royal families and the son-in-law of the President of the United States. That's a cast of characters that could easily pack out a John Le Carré novel, or the latest movie in the Bourne franchise.
Hegseth wanted to emulate one of the greatest US generals. Guess what happened next
Sometimes, reality can deliver the kind of heavy-handed metaphor that no fiction writer would ever dare to even attempt. If a TV show about Washington DC politics featured a plotline in which a secretary of defence thought to be reckless and chaotic ordered an antique globe moved to his office, only for it to be badly damaged in the process, viewers would switch off in droves. It would simply seem far too implausible.
The 'ice maiden' rumours that show Trump's White House is cracking
In most ways, Donald Trump's second term has been even more chaotic and extreme than the first. When he first entered the Oval Office, many of the people surrounding Trump were still career Republicans, rather than full-blown Maga loyalists. Lots of people around him pushed back on the President's most extreme impulses. In Trump 2.0, those checks and balances are gone.
The 'ice maiden' rumours that show Trump's White House is cracking
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Hegseth united America against him. Trump might make it his last act
Pete Hegseth , Donald Trump's Secretary of War, made a jaw-dropping announcement this month: the US would livestream the execution of Nidal Hasan , the former US army major who killed 13 people and injured 32 more in a mass shooting at the Fort Hood military base in 2009. Eight days later, after much public scrutiny, Trump made an announcement of his own: the livestream would not be happening after all, though Hasan's execution by firing squad is still scheduled to go ahead on 3 December.
Trump's sadistic tiger videos are a hideous window into his mind
James Ball In rooms across the world, government ministers and parliamentarians hold serious discussions about how to challenge the threats posed by big tech – particularly AI and social media.
Hegseth's firing squad shows the cruelty at the heart of Trump's White House
Ever since former Fox & Friends weekend host Pete Hegseth was put in charge of the defence of the USA, his obsession with masculinity has developed into a kind of mania in his remaking of the military. While America's rivals have been focused on developing high-tech, modern militaries for the drone warfare era, Hegseth has introduced new shaving standards, workout regimens, and even testosterone testing.
Hegseth’s firing squad shows the cruelty at the heart of Trump’s White House
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Trump's recklessness with secrets shows why no one can trust the US
Five men have been arrested on suspicion of preparing a terrorist act, and of offences under the Explosives Act, near RAF Fairford. They are all UK nationals , believed to live in London. That is all that most of us know about whatever has happened near the key airbase in Gloucestershire, after a large-scale operation was launched in the early hours of Sunday morning – possibly following a tip-off from a concerned passerby.
Trump's recklessness with secrets shows why no one can trust the US
Five men have been arrested on suspicion of preparing a terrorist act, and of offences under the Explosives Act, near the RAF Fairford base. The five men are all UK nationals , believed to live in London. That is all most of us know about whatever has happened near RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire, after a large-scale operation was launched in the early hours of Sunday morning – possibly following a tip-off call from a concerned passerby.
Trump talked down the oil crisis all summer. Winter will expose him
Brett Kavanaugh 3 hours ago Supreme Court vote shadows Maine Sen. Susan Collins in her first bid after abortion rights decision Associated Press - By KIMBERLEE KRUESI and PATRICK WHITTLE • 3h GORHAM, Maine (AP) — For years, Planned Parenthood’s endorsement of Susan Collins was enough to persuade Erin Evans to vote for Maine’s longtime U.S. senator, believing that the moderate Republican would protect abortion access. Evans is now “just furious with myself” for those votes.
The withering remark that humiliated Trump in his latest court failure
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The withering remark that humiliated Trump in his latest court failure
Another day, another loss in federal court for Donald Trump The President, seemingly from nowhere, launched a fresh war against the media last weekend by banning journalists from CNN, MS NOW (formerly known as MSNBC), and Politico from the White House – something the news outlets claimed violated their constitutional rights. In court, Trump's lawyers tried to claim that the media had been banned from the White House because of pressing national security concerns.
Trump’s ego is so fragile he sees Europe and Canada talks as a personal slight
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Even Hegseth's Pentagon is contradicting Trump's war claims
Donald Trump is being very clear. The Strait of Hormuz is open and lots of oil is travelling through it. The war with Iran is going exactly as he wants it to be going . Any spike in global oil and gas prices is Ukraine's fault, and nothing to do with the steady cut-off of supplies from across the whole Middle Eastern region.
A new film about Elon Musk reveals him as so awful it’s almost tragic. Almost
Four hours is a long time to spend inside the mind of the world’s richest man – and that’s because his mind turns out to be a twisted, miserable nightmare Elon Musk on stage at an event in support of then presidential candidate Trump in Pennsylvania, October 2024. Image: Ryan Collerd/AFP/Getty Alex Gibney is at the centre of a storm.
Trump wades into United Ireland controversy with stamping feet
Donald Trump's visit to Ireland this weekend was supposed to be a quiet trip to watch a golf tournament. There was no major summit, no plans for a big event, and Irish politicians had made it clear their primary goal for Trump's trip was to get through it without any major diplomatic incidents. For the first hour or two, things seemed to be going to plan.
RFK chose two dark conspiracy theories to animate MAGA. He's eyeing the White House
There was no shortage of issues that Robert F Kennedy Jr could have chosen to talk about in front of the somewhat thin Texas crowd assembled for the inaugural Republican Party midterm conference – now known as ‘Trumpapalooza' That he used his speech to accuse the Biden administration of turning the US federal government “into the biggest child trafficking operation in world history” speaks volumes of the moment we're in, and the sinister impact that Donald Trump has had on US – and indeed...
Trump’s UK nuclear claim is the latest rambling of an old man who’s lost it
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Putin has just been publicly humiliated. Even his friends are fed up
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Putin has just been publicly humiliated. Even his friends are fed up
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Putin has just been publicly humiliated. Even his friends are fed up
‘They Will Hang Me’: Putin Fears Defeat in Ukraine, Plans to Send 400,000 More Russians to War In brief: Russian President Vladimir Putin fears defeat in Ukraine could cost him his life and is preparing to send up to 400,000 more Russians to …
How it all went wrong for Meghan and Harry in Trump’s America
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Trump's fear of attack is making him deeply paranoid
Almost 10 years since he first took office, it often feels like Donald Trump has lost his ability to surprise us. He says outrageous things on a daily basis, but we are inured to that. His family businesses grow rich while he's in the White House, but what else is new? Even the US President falling asleep on camera in the Oval Office is starting to get old.
Trump's 'deal' looks like a desperate distraction
It should be a momentous occasion: late on Thursday evening, Donald Trump announced a landmark deal in which Hamas would agree to disarm completely – alongside “all other armed groups in Gaza” – in exchange for Israeli withdrawal from the territory.
Trump can barely recall Burnham's name – but he's still trying to control him
Donald Trump is not a politician known for his unimpeachable record of accuracy. So his claims that in his first phone call with Andy Burnham , the Prime Minister had told him that “he's going to open up North Sea oil ” raised some eyebrows. Trump made his approval of that apparent decision very clear: “If he does that, you're going to be a wealthy country,” he said, making his desires and expectations crystal clear to anyone in Burnham's inner circle who might be listening.
Trump can barely recall Burnham's name – but he's still trying to control him
Donald Trump is not a politician known for his unimpeachable record of accuracy. So his claims that in his first phone call with Andy Burnham , the Prime Minister had told him that “he's going to open up North Sea oil ” raised some eyebrows. Trump made his approval of that apparent decision very clear: “If he does that, you're going to be a wealthy country,” he said, making his desires and expectations crystal clear to anyone in Burnham's inner circle who might be listening.
Trump's Tic Tac funeral moment shows his friendships are purely transactional
Donald Trump is a man who rarely tires of the sound of his own voice, and assumes that everyone else feels the same way. His performance on Tuesday at the funeral service of his close friend and ally, the late Senator Lindsey Graham , was unconventional, to say the least. Typically, the occasion calls for a solemn, heartfelt tribute focused on the departed.
Trump is now so toxic even close allies are shunning him for political gain
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Trump's desperate threats no longer convince anybody
Just a week has passed since Donald Trump's deal with Iran fell apart and already the President is back to doing what he does best: making extraordinary threats – then chickening out. If only there had been some way to foresee that a peace treaty signed at the Palace of Versailles might not stand the test of time. It was just last month that Trump chose this grandiose but inauspicious location to sign his ceasefire agreement with Iran – and yet it is already in tatters.
I fled the UK heatwave for the Arctic Circle – my productivity and mood have soared
I don't do well with heat. I can get sunburnt in 10 minutes outside on a cloudy day. I think 20ºC is hot enough, thanks very much. I am spectacularly not designed for climate change-era British summers It was on something like the seventh successive day of 30ºC London heat that my sanity finally broke. Days of poor sleep meant I was getting no work done and could barely think.
The death of Trump’s Senate champion leaves him deeply alone
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Trump has endured a week of humiliation. Now he’s lashing out at home
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Trump has endured a week of humiliation. Now he's lashing out at home
Perhaps Donald Trump really did get “tired of winning” . Ten years ago, Trump famously promised Americans they would win so often on the world stage that they'd become tired of it. Maybe, a decade on, Trump really did get fed up. That might be one way to explain why he's had such a catastrophic week of losses on the world stage, on almost every front imaginable. The embarrassments started out small, at least in geopolitical terms.
Trump has endured a week of humiliation. Now he's lashing out at home
Perhaps Donald Trump really did get “tired of winning” . Ten years ago, Trump famously promised Americans they would win so often on the world stage that they'd become tired of it. Maybe, a decade on, Trump really did get fed up. That might be one way to explain why he's had such a catastrophic week of losses on the world stage, on almost every front imaginable. The embarrassments started out small, at least in geopolitical terms.
Trump is pretending to care about Mexican lives. The irony is staggering
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Trump has been utterly humiliated, while the whole world watches and laughs
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Trump has been utterly humiliated – while the whole world watches and laughs
Usually, the host nation of a tournament like the World Cup accrues a huge amount of goodwill from fans around the world. People enjoy tournaments; visiting fans grow to like the cities they're staying in and become fond of the people they meet. Visitors will often root for the home team, even when it's America. Yet Donald Trump has single-handedly taken all of that goodwill and fed it into a shredder .
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